Theater Night Update 7-29-08

Hello Everyone -

Well, you knew it was coming....they are talking about banning the sale of cigerettes and cigars in the European Union. Black market...here we come! And get a look at that....their giving the smokers and obese a break in Nice. They are actually talking about allowing them to receive drugs and operations! How nice of them! I guess we're considered part of the human race after all! And that poor van couple...can you imagine getting a fine for smoking in your vehicle because they say it's your "work" vehicle.....how absurd!

People...how did things get so bad? What happened to good old common sense? Let's try to return to the "good old common sense" days and make that apparent at this November's elections. Visit the http://banthebanminnesota.com/default.aspx to check out who is running in your district and where they stand on the smoking issue (government scorecard). We will also be adding "links" where you can view how your incumbent voted on other issues in the legislature. It's important that we are "informed" voters! Maybe, we can then stop the madness!

Sheila

(P.S. Don't forget to check www.freedomtoact.com as Greg as posted other articles. Especially, take a look at what is going on in Anoka county with the local government. I feel bad for those people!)

(P.S.S. I will be at the Crow Wing County fair this Saturday (2:30 - 6:30) and Shawn will be at the Olmstead County fair this Thursday (6:15 - 10:00). We are helping out Minnesota Majority man their booth. If your in the area, drop by and see us. If interested, they are still looking for volunteers to help man the booth.)




MEP calls for EU-wide tobacco banBy Doug Newhouse, 22 July 2008While the European Commission continues to try and drive its plan to rise tobacco taxes throughout the 27-nation bloc, Irish MEP Avril Doyle has called for legislation to make it illegal to sell cigarettes and cigars within the European Union by 2025.
To read more click on the link below:
http://www.trend- news.com/ default.asp? newsid=4897

Smokers and obese must get NHS treatment despite lifestyle, says head of Nice
Smokers and the obese should receive drugs and operations on the NHS despite their lifestyle, according to the head of the Government's drugs rationing body Nice. By Rebecca Smith, Medical Editor and Robert Winnett, Political Correspondent Last Updated: 1:34AM BST 26 Jul 2008A personal lifestyle choice must not be used as a reason to deny someone treatment on the NHS, Andrew Dillon chief executive of the National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. Mr Dillon says the only circumstance where such a refusal would be justified is if the drug or treatment would not be effective unless the patient changed their lifestyle. The treatment of self induced or lifestyle factors is a central and hotly debated topic for the NHS. Earlier this week a survey of IVF clinicians found the majority do not believe smokers should receive treatment. Prof Peter Braude, of King's College London, said the reasons were that there is some evidence that smoking affects the chances of successful treatment but also the welfare of the resulting child must be taken into account. Guidelines from the British Fertility Society also say that patients with a body mass index of more than 36, classed as clinically obese, should not receive treatment because it is risky and less likely to work. Surgeons have also been debating whether obese patients should have knee replacements, as the general anaesthetic is riskier in overweight patients, but also because the replacement may not last as well. Mr Dillon said Nice asked its Citizens Council, a representative group of 30 people who have no involvement with healthcare, to consider the issue and they concluded that treatment should not be rationed according to lifestyle. He said: "The only circumstances in which we say the way people behave individually should be taken into account is if that behaviour has the effect of directly reducing the effectiveness of the treatment. "Simply because you have a lifestyle is not a reason for refusing a treatment. If that was the case any of us who go skiing would be told if you get a broken leg don't expect us to fix it. "It is a lifestyle choice if you ski, I like to ski. I go out and I know there is a much greater risk of serious injury than if I didn't go skiing or if I went walking in the Lake District or lay on a beach instead and no-one says to me because of that lifestyle choice the NHS will treat your differently. "I think we have to be extremely careful about saying that the way people live their lives is a factor in decision making and Nice has said it isn't, except where continuing with a particular pattern of lifestyle renders the treatment ineffective. " Mr Dillon said the Citizens Council had also rejected any notion of Nice weighting their decisions in favour of the young over the old or those in work over those not. He added: "Their response was that a year of life at age three was worth just as much as a year of life aged 83." When a group of schoolchildren were asked their response was the same, he said. The proposed NHS Constitution says that patients have the right to drugs and treatments that have been recommended by Nice and if your doctor believes they are appropriate for you.
http://www.telegrap h.co.uk/news/ 2460033/Smokers- and-obese- must-get- NHS-treatment- despite-lifestyl e%2C-says- head-of-Nice. html


Couple fined for smoking in own van
Published: Friday, 25 July 2008, 10:18AM
A painter and decorator and his wife have both received a £30 fines for smoking in their own van.
Gordon Williams, of Llanafan, near Aberystwyth, west Wales, and his wife Sue were on the way to buy tea bags when they were slapped with the fixed penalty fines under anti-smoking laws.
The self-employed painter and decorator hit out claiming the fines were unjustified and unfair because his van is a private vehicle and warned that British civil liberties are "going up in smoke".
He has lodged an appeal with Ceredigion County Council and claims Britain is sleepwalking into a Big Brother-style society.
The blue Suzuki van belonging to Mr Williams had been undergoing a routine check by police in Llanbadarn Fawr, outside Aberystwyth, earlier this month.
The married grandfather had just lit up when a council official approached him and dished out the on-the-spot fine. Mr Williams said it was justified to him by the accusation that his van was classed as a workplace.
He claims that he had, in fact, been working in the nearby village of Talybont that day and only ever used his van as transport.
"I was actually driving to Llanbadarn Fawr to get some tea bags from the garage, so how was I going to my place of work?" he said.
"I appreciate that a driver of a coach or a bus can't smoke at the wheel because, obviously, that is the law of the land.
"But this is insured as a private vehicle and I only use it to drive to wherever I will be working on any given day.
"Of course, there are tools and things in the van but a barrister would carry about documents in a briefcase in his own car, this is no different to my mind."
http://www.itv.com/News/Articles/Couple-fined-for-smoking-in-own-van-739954256.html